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Vollocki
The 'Vollocki '''are a sentient species from Vollok. Native to the planet's grasslands, the cervine Vollocki are known for their bright blue skin, massive sloping horns and nomadic lifestyle. Relatively rare in the wider galaxy, Vollocki can occasionally be found on other worlds, working as farmers, mechanics and sometimes even as criminals. Biology & Appearance Vollocki are a species of bipedal cervines. Descended from the deer and antelope that roam their grassy planet, they share many features with their prehistoric ancestors, most notably the teeth, the hooves and the horns. Their teeth are broad and flat, once used for chewing grass and cracking nuts. Their hooves are likewise large, broad and split down the middle. Their skin color is a stark blue, ranging in tone from light periwinkle to deep sapphire. As a Vollocki ages, their skin slowly turns an ashen gray color. In many other respects, they resembled humanoids, with dextrous hands, sophisticated forward-facing eyes and a mane of bluish-white hair that was traditionally worn long and wild. Sprouting from their brow are a Vollocki's most defining physical feature – their horns. Made from hard keratin, a Vollocki's horns continue to grow throughout their entire life, twisting into remarkable and fantastically elaborate shapes. Their skeletons, particularly their spines and legs, are exceptionally durable as a result as the rack of an adult Vollocki can sometimes weigh upwards of twenty pounds. No two Vollocki have precisely the same arrangement of horns and it's said this was how the ancient nomads could tell each other apart at great distances. Society & Culture Shorn vs. Unshorn Vollocki culture is divided into two distinct ethincities; the shorn and the unshorn. A shorn Vollocki is typically a spacefarer, generally encountered offworld and has severed their horns, typically a few inches from the brow, to allow them to travel aboard a spacecraft. An unshorn Vollocki is necessarily a native of the homeworld and typically lives in the traditional nomadic lifestyle of herding and husbandry. In ancient Vollocki culture, before the coming of space travel, cutting off a Vollocki's horns was a customary punishment for a capital offense, a way to forever brand an individual as an exile, a criminal or a traitor. When severed at the stubb, the horns cease to grow, leaving the offender permanently scarred. Modern unshorn disdain space travel and galactic culture, preferring to remain on their planet and follow the old ways. To them, a shorn Vollocki is tantamount to an ancient exile, only worse; someone who has willingly chosen shame and dishonor, simply to flee into the stars. Symphonic Ceiling It was the unshorn Vollocki who first developed the symphonic ceiling, one of the most notable pieces of culture to escape Vollok into the wider galaxy. Made from sculpted malachite, a symphonic ceiling is riddled with holes and apertures, very particularly placed and spaced, so that any passing wind is fluted into beautiful and haunting choruses.''Hull Damage, Chapter 7 The music is evidently so soothing, it has proved to be one of the planet's greatest exports. Thyybuk Legaro was a particularly well-renown symphonic sculptor and a pioneer of modern breeze-baroque.Hull Damage, Chapter 7 Symphonic ceilings typically adorn the roofs of cathedrals and meeting halls on Vollok, whose inhabitants believe that the howling winds are their ancestors, crying out to advise and guide them. Boss Ott, the 32nd Galactic Menace and a noted art collector, had a symphonic ceiling constructed over the landing pad of his polar fortress on Baz – designed by the very Thyybuk Legaro, no less.. History A comparatively late entry onto the galactic stage, contact with Vollok was not successfully established until 5546. It has been theorized that, because of Vollok's very difficult warp, many ships attempted to reach the planet in the decades and centuries before but crashed to the surface, littering its steppes with debris and wreckage. When contact was established, many Vollocki chose to depart the planet and these were termed the shorn. Those who stayed behind and retained their horns called themselves unshorn, reveling in their traditional views and pastoral lifestyle. At this time, Vollok is an independent planet, owing no allegiance to regional governments or galactic superpowers. Appearances Velocity, Takioro Defederate Station's Depot-Commissioner, is a major supporting character through the series and makes an appearance in all three books of the Bad Space Trilogy. Her brother, Baigo, is also mentioned repeatedly. A Vollocki is among the pirate crews swearing fealty to Captain Nemo during the rise of the Freebooter Fleet.Galactic Menace, Chapter 14 ReferencesCategory:Sentient Species (V)Category:Vollocki